God is compassionate & gracious

To everyone watching online, it’s great to be with you. We welcome you as part of the family at Westerville Christian. To everyone here in person today, what a privilege it is to worship God together. If you are new, whether online or in person, that makes you our guest. We’d love to get to know you. Please fill out our online connect card and we will donate $5 in your name to a place of hope called Fostering Love in Franklin County. FLIFC comes alongside families and agencies giving children and their care givers the assistance they need. Thank you in advance for connecting with us.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend. Memorial Day is the unofficial start of summer, but it’s obviously much more. The purpose of Memorial Day is to honor the men and women who died while serving in the United States military. Watch this. (Video: The Fallen 1:40) Would you please stand with me and for the next 20 seconds let’s remember the fallen! Thank you.

I was listening to The Bible Project podcast last year when Dr. Tim Mackie asked this question. What’s the most repeated verse or verses in the Old Testament? That question made me curious so I kept listening. Turns out, the most repeated verse in the Old Testament first appears in Exodus 34:6. It’s God’s description of himself. God said this to Moses. (Read Exodus 34: 6&7) That is how God described himself.

I want to take the next few weeks to dig down into these two verses and other verses like them to better understand the character of God. To better understand who God is! So let’s start right here in the book of Exodus. If you want to know how to apply the Bible, you must know why a book was written. Exodus was written by Moses. Moses writes Exodus “to record the events of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt & their development as a nation.” God sent Moses to deliver his people, the Hebrews, the Jews or the Israelites out of slavery. When you see the word Exodus think of the word exit. The Israelites will exit Egypt to enter the Promise Land. They will exit slavery and enter freedom. The Book of Exodus is divided into three main sections. Chapters 1-12: The Hebrews are enslaved in Egypt.God hears the cries of his people and he delivers his people from sin, death and evil. Hmmm. That sounds like what Jesus did. The OT always points to Jesus. Chapters 12 – 18 are the Hebrews leaving Egypt. They cross the Red Sea and are thankful God rescued them. But they soon start to complain about their living conditions and suggest going back to Egypt would be better. Chapters 19 – 40 are the Hebrews at Mount Sinai. (MAP)God reveals his law to them. What the law did for them, it does for us. The law exposes our sin. We are sinners, so God, reveals his name to Moses in Exodus 34:6. Yahweh, Yahweh, the compassionate and gracious God.

What does it mean that God is compassionate? It means He’s very parental. Here are three images/word pictures of God’s compassion. God is like a nursing mother. The Hebrew word for compassion (rakhum) is like the Hebrew word for womb (rekhem). Dr. Carissa Quinn said, “Just picture a mother holding her baby eight inches from her face, looking into her baby’s eyes and sustaining that baby with her own life. This is what God says he is like, but even better.”[i] God wants us to experience real and abundant life.

God is like a protective mother. Check out this card. Similarities and differences between Moms and Grizzly bears: Fiercely protective of their young. Known for their hugs. (Bear) ½ ton killing machine. (Human) Makes really good sandwiches. Bears or humans. Moms protect their kids. One of the craziest stories in the Bible is the ruling King Solomon made in 1st Kings chapter 3. Two prostitutes each give birth to baby boys. One woman falls asleep while nursing her son and he suffocates. So at night she decides to take the live baby from the arms of the other woman. She switches her son who died with the boy who is alive. In the morning, this new Mom wakes up and finds that the baby boy in her arms has died. But as she looks at him carefully, his face, his eyes, his lips, she knows it’s not her baby boy. They go to King Solomon because God has blessed him with wisdom. Each Mom pleads with King Solomon that that baby who is alive is their son. King Solomon says, “How am I supposed to decide this. You say he’s your boy. You says he’s YOUR boy. Bring me a sword!” Here’s what happens next. (Read 1st Kings 3:24b-27) Compassion means being “deeply moved out of love.” That Mom was willing to give up her son so he might live. God gave up his son so we might live. That’s compassion.

God is also like a caring father. King David said this is Psalm 103:13a. (Read only 13a) My Dad had so much compassion for me. He helped me any way he could. I called him my Sophomore year of college. It was a collect call. I said to him. Dad, I can start a weekend ministry but I need a car. He got me a car. Twice. If you have a father who shows you compassion. You are blessed. Not everyone does.

Lets’ combine verses 13&14 (Read) God has compassion on those who fear him. What does it mean to fear God? It means you know God , obey, honor and live for God. You love & reverence God! You serve him. You trust his character/his decision making. Because life often doesn’t go the way we think it should!

I have experienced the compassion of God many times. I should have died twice. Both times I fell asleep while driving a truck early in the morning working for my Dad. I was driving a tow truck on I 76 in Akron. I fell asleep. I remember being in the left lane only to wake up in the right lane. I don’t know why I’m alive. I have two great parents. I’ve never gone without food. I’ve prayed for people to live and God said YES to my prayers. I’m curious here. Whether you are watching online or right here in person, raise your hand if you’ve ever experienced the compassion of God?

And you might be thinking. Well, I haven’t. Why didn’t God show me the same kind of compassion? I prayed for my wife to live, but she died. My kid got sick. What kind of God lets kids get sick? What kind of God lets kids die? Pastor, you said you had two great parents. I didn’t even have one. My Mom died when I was little. My Dad was an addicted mess. I can’t stand the man. Where is God’s compassion for me?

I’m going to let a friend of mine answer that question. Would you describe God as compassionate if you were diagnosed with cancer? One day Pat Connor will stand here and share his testimony. Until then, let me share just a tiny bit of his story. Here’s a picture of Pat and his family. This is his wife Kacey and their three kids. Quinn, Hazel and Everett. Several people went to the front lawn of their house this past Tuesday Night and we prayed for Pat and his family. Pat has cancer in the distal common bile duct. He has gone through 16 treatments. He had a scan done last Wednesday and will get the results this week. I said to Pat at his house last Tuesday night. Pat, I’m talking about God being compassionate and gracious on Sunday. You’re battling cancer. Has God been compassionate to you? Here’s his answer. “It depends on where you look. You might have to look hard. God’s compassion will likely show up in ways you did not expect. I expected God to show up with an immediate cure. That didn’t happen. I expected God to open up the clouds and speak to me. That too didn’t happen. I saw God’s compassion in the form of meals. I saw God’s compassion in financial support from friends & family. Sometimes you see God’s compassion in a text message. Sometimes it’s in the face of a friend. You might hear his voice. I’ve had that happen to me. All sound disappears and I hear this voice in my head telling me everything is going to be okay. That’s God showing compassion.”

I’ll never forget Pat saying, “you might have to look hard to see God’s compassion.” I have to go back to that one question compelling question. Where is God’s compassion for me? The best answer is his son. For God so loved the world… The reason the world is often less than compassionate is sin. The reason anyone dies, whether a child or a spouse is a result of the consequences of sin. Paul tells us in Romans 5:12. (Read) Paul continues in verse 17. (Read vs. 17)

Where is God’s compassion for you? We see it in God’s two-fold description of himself. Yahweh, Yahweh, the compassionate and gracious God… What does it mean that God is gracious? In the book of Exodus God makes a covenant with Moses and the children of Israel. God gives his people His law or the 10 commandments in Exodus 20 to follow. But the Israelites break this covenant when Moses spends too much time on top of Mt. Sinai listening to God, basking in God’s glory. The people think that Moses is gone, dead or simply not coming back so they make their own god in Exodus 32. A god in the shape of a golden calf. Something they learned from the Egyptians. Let’s not be too hard on them since we too make golden calves out of money, sex and power. God tells Moses to go and confront his people and He does. He sees their sin and Moses pleads with God to take his life as a substitute for their sin.[ii] God won’t do it. Why? Because Moses is not a perfect substitute. Jesus is! God’s greatest act of grace is when he gave us his one & only son. Because Jesus is the perfect substitute. God is so compassionate to Moses in Exodus 33. He gives Moses a glimpse of his glory. This is Exodus 33:21. (Read 21-23)

God is a supreme being. He does not have a face, hand or back. But Jesus did. When people saw Jesus, they actually saw the face of God. Jesus did what God did. Matthew 9:36 (NIV2011) 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. But Jesus left this earth a long time ago. How can we help people see Jesus? By being compassionate & gracious. We help people see the face of Jesus. This is Ephesians 4:32 (NIV2011) 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

What makes God compassionate? He doesn’t leave us in our sin. What makes God gracious? He made a way for us to be forgiven. And that way is through Jesus. Do you know him? Is today the day you put your faith in him? To be baptized into Christ. Do you know of someone who needs to receive God’s compassion & grace? I’ll pray for you, you come pray for them. (Pray)

[i] https://bibleproject.com/podcast/the-womb-of-god/ [ii] Exodus 32:32 (NIV)